In the Woods
by pandorabox82
Summary: Serena and Bernie take a camping holiday in the woods, and Serena finds herself more than willing to indulge one of Bernie's requests.


"You were the one that wanted to go camping, Serena!"

"Yes, well, I didn't expect it to be so bloody cold. It is September, after all!" She shivered violently as she adjusted how her hat on her head, using it to keep her head warm as she burrowed down into the nest of blankets she had made in the tent. "And I was also expecting to end up in a camper, not on the bloody ground! Do you know how many bugs are trying to devour me?"

"It is too cold to have bugs attacking you, darling. And I made certain to zip the tent closed as quickly as possible." She arched her eyebrow at Bernie, who shrugged a little before pulling out a pair of fuzzy slipper socks and came to her side, kneeling down and rolling them on and then tucking Serena's legs into the sleeping bag before wrapping the thick blanket around her. "Now, I'm going to get my socks on and then bunker in close to you."

She nodded as she turned onto her side, watching as Bernie hopped and stumbled into thick woolen socks much like her own. "You know, you could have put them on here, in the nest, rather than trying to break your neck like that."

"Oh, but I was trying to give you a show, Serena!"

"And I am enjoying it, Bernie, I just need your warmth here next to me before I shiver my life away." Bernie looked over her shoulder at her, arching an eyebrow as she sashayed over to Serena's side, plucking the knit cap off her head and tossing it towards the packs in the corner. "Hey!"

"There is no way I can cuddle close to you with that on your head. Trust me, we'll create so much heat together that you won't even miss it." Bernie tugged up her corner of the blankets and crawled in next to her. "And I still don't know how you managed to get both the sleeping bags zipped together."

"Ingenuity, my darling," she whispered as Bernie zipped them into the sleeping bags.

"If it's a little warmer tomorrow night, I'd love to sleep beneath the stars and make wishes on them with you."

The idea of that sounded perfectly lovely to Serena, and she sighed a little before leaning in and pecking Bernie on the cheek lightly. "I suppose, since it is a clear night tonight, we could watch the stars together for a while. As long as I can bring a few blankets to wrap up in."

The pleased smile that slipped across Bernie's lips told her that she had said the perfect thing, and then her partner was nodding enthusiastically before kissing her soundly. Unzipping the sleeping bags, Bernie slipped out and then motioned for Serena to join her. "I'll even let you wear that stupid knit cap while we stargaze."

"That hat was a gift from Jason, I'll have you know. He didn't want me bringing my pretty fur hat into the woods, on the off chance a predator mistook me for prey."

Bernie's loud laugh rushed over her like a wave, and she giggled in return as she shuffled over to the door of the tent, opening it and reaching for her boots. It took some finagling, but she managed to get them on her feet without taking her warm socks off, which was a bonus. Bernie wrapped a warm plaid blanket around her shoulders before patting her bum softly. "Well, you do look good enough to eat, Serena."

"And will you be the one to devour me, right?" she purred out as she turned and gazed at her lover affectionately.

"With gusto. You are a feast that I will always return to." Serena bit her lip a little before nodding and motioning with her head towards the woods. "All right." Bernie gathered up a few more blankets before heading outside. Serena followed after her, watching as Bernie spread one blanket out close to the dying embers of their fire. As she stretched out on it, Serena smiled a little as she sank down next to Bernie, cuddling in close and resting her head on her chest as she gazed up at the sky.

Bernie threw a blanket over them, pulling it up as far as she could before taking hold of Serena's hand and running her thumb back and forth as they let a natural silence descend upon them. The noises of the woods soon filled her head, soothing her immensely as they continued to stare upwards. A tiny sigh slipped from her lips as a shooting star passed overhead.

"Did you make a wish, Bernie?"

"I would, but I think that I have everything I need right here in my arms." The sappy reply caused Serena to roll her eyes a little, snuggling in a little closer to Bernie's side as their fingers tapped against each other. "The sky is so beautiful tonight."

"Mm hmm," she murmured in response as she focused her gaze on a particularly bright spot in the sky. "Tell me something?"

"What do you want to hear?"

Serena paused a moment, wondering if she should ask this question or not. It was only when Bernie squeezed her hand that she realized she had paused a little too long. "Oh, sorry. Um, you don't talk about this much, but was there ever a time when you were in Kandahar that you did something like this? Looked up at the sky and watched the stars?"

Bernie tensed for a millisecond, and that was all it took for Serena to mentally kick herself. She should never have brought up Bernie's time in the military, as it probably reminded her of Alex, and soldiers she had lost, and other not quite pleasant memories. But then Bernie was dropping a kiss to her temple before staring back up at the sky. "There were a few days where I could stretch out on a roof and stare up at the sky, yes."

"And what did you think about?"

A low chuckle tumbled from Bernie's lips as she disentangled their hands before spreading her hand out on Serena's stomach. "You are inquisitive tonight, aren't you?"

"Sorry."

"No, it's perfectly all right. You have the right to know about this time in my life." Serena smiled as she sighed lightly, turning her body so that she was curved around Bernie's side, still staring up at the sky as she waited for her lover to speak once more. "I wanted to do this once, with Alex. She said no, that we would get caught out, and you know the military. I wasn't even thinking of it as a sexual thing; I just wanted to spend the night with my best friend, staring at the stars and talking about absolutely nothing beyond the scents and sounds of the country. I have mates, Dom's my mate, so's Fletch, but you and Alex? You're rare, you're the people that I feel safe enough around to let down all my walls.

"And then, I was home, and we never had the opportunity to do this. I don't want you to think that I'm trying to do this just because Alex never did. You're not her. You're my Serena. And it's a beautiful sky made all the more so because you're here, in my arms."

Serena nodded as she blinked back tears. "I would never think that you were trying to mold our relationship into the one you wanted with her. But I am glad that I'm the first one to get to share this with you. I never did this with Edward, just so you know. This is my first time camping and being out under the stars. If it weren't so cold, I might even let you talk me into making love with the stars shining down upon us."

Bernie groaned a little as she turned and pulled Serena tighter to her. "You just had to tempt me, darling," she said lowly before kissing her forehead lightly. "We could try and see what happens back in the tent. Obviously, I can't go down on you, but we've been creative before."

Serena blushed as she thought about the one time she had allowed Bernie the freedom to skirt the boundaries of decent behavior in their office. "That we have. Would you mind, though, if we spent some more time out here before we head back to the tent?"

"I would have thought that you would be too cold by now?" Bernie teased.

"Somehow, in your arms, I find myself not quite so cold. And the fuzzy socks help a lot, too. Maybe a little more than your body heat," she teased, bracing herself for the tender swat to her shoulder she knew was coming.

"Oi! Can your fuzzy socks make you see stars? And not the ones in the sky?"

Serena burst into giggles as she shook her head. "No, I suppose not. You are awfully good at sending me over that precipice." Tilting her head up a little, she softly nipped at Bernie's jaw before kissing the same spot, loving the low growl that Bernie let out as she tugged her even closer, one hand slipping down her body to cup her arse. Bernie nuzzled her nose into Serena's hair before letting out a deep sigh. "No sighing!"

"Yes, darling," Bernie said before kissing the top of her head once more. Serena smiled as she spread her hand out on Bernie's torso, letting her thumb rub back and forth absently against the underside of her breast as she watched the sky. The peaceful feeling that settled over her the longer she watched was something she hadn't realized she was missing until that moment, and a part of her wondered if she could bear to sleep outside. It was only September, after all. And she did have her hat on, and her fuzzy socks, and Bernie was in her arms.

"Would you mind getting the rest of our blankets?" she asked in a rush, needing to get the words out before she changed her mind.

"Serena?"

"We're out here already, and we have no idea if tomorrow night will be clear or not. Let's just make this our night beneath the stars. Okay?"

The smile that slipped across Bernie's face told her that she had made the right decision, and then they were kissing passionately. Serena buried her hand in her lover's hair, holding her close as she fitted one leg between Bernie's. "Serena," Bernie groaned as she tore her lips free.

"Yes?"

"I'll never want to go get the other blankets if you keep kissing me like that. And I really do not want to wake up to ice cold hands feeling me up in the morning."

Serena giggled as she nodded, extricating herself from Bernie and turning onto her back to stare up at the sky. "Oh, and bring the pillows, too. I don't think I can sleep on my arms all night."

Bernie just arched an eyebrow up at her as she shook her head and started to make her way back to the tent. While she was gone, Serena searched the stars for something that caught her eye. She was able to pick out one constellation that she recognized, and as she looked between the stars, she felt Bernie come back to her side and smiled as one of the soft pillows hit her stomach with a dull thump. "Make certain that you don't steal my pillow tonight, Serena. I will be right by your side to hold onto."

A soft blush stained her cheeks as she stuck the pillow beneath her head and then helped Bernie arrange the rest of the blankets over her before her lover crawled in next to her. Serena was quick to snuggle up close to Bernie, wrapping her arms and legs around her as she nuzzled her cheek against her chest as she yawned deeply. "I don't want to go to sleep just yet, you know. I want to talk to you. We talk so much about work, at work, but I just want to forget about that for the next few days and just be in your presence."

"All right, then. What do you want to talk about?"

"Do you think that Charlotte would like to spend more time over with us? I know that she's only just started coming around more, since she has her own life. But with Cam still in London, and Jason out so often with his new group of friends, well, it gets a little lonely."

"Weren't you the one who lived alone after Elinor moved out?" Serena nodded. "What changed?"

"Having the house full, realizing what I had missed out on. I mean, the Fletchlings don't even have time to spend with us anymore!" She let out a huff and tried not to relent as Bernie laughed loudly. "What? I miss the hustle and bustle." A small part of her didn't want to admit that she was really missing Elinor's presence in her life, since she had been working so hard to not let that be her focus. Unconsciously, she tightened her arm around Bernie's waist and fell quiet as she gazed back up into the sky once more.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, darling. I'll miss her for the rest of my life. But I have you, don't I?"

"Yes." Bernie turned her face and kissed her forehead lightly. "And it doesn't hurt to ask. Though I know a few people who could use a friendly ear." Serena knew that Bernie was talking about Jasmine, and she nodded a little.

"I really am trying, Bernie," she murmured as she reached up to rub at her eyes. "I still don't know what I did to deserve you. We both pushed each other away, but here we are. Still together. Still strong. Still growing." Serena lifted her head, meeting Bernie's lips in a soft kiss. "Tell me a story."

"Another one?"

"Yeah. Tell me about how Cameron reacted to Charlotte. I always wanted a second child, it just wasn't in the cards. Though I can't imagine how Ellie would have reacted to a sibling. It was bad enough trying to get her accustomed to Jason. But oh, how I would have loved another sweet baby in my arms."

"You are a wonderful mother, Serena. I can see you with a passel of kids, in another life. One where maybe we met before things went to hell for us both." Bernie dropped another kiss to her head. "But to answer your question, he took to being an older brother quite well. I was surprised, honestly, because I had been gone so often on tours of duty. A part of me was glad, though, that the doctors told me no more pregnancies after Charlie. Two was really difficult, I'm in awe of Fletch being able to corral four kids and work full time. Which of you took time off for Elinor?"

"I did. Though I came back early, because I knew that I couldn't afford that much time off, not if I wanted to be able to support my family. Edward was no help, he had been raised to believe that children were to be coddled and indulged by their fathers, and that women were the ones who did the truly hard part. That was why Elinor chose to spend so much time with him. I was the one who tried to lay down the ground rules."

"I was the exact opposite. I was the fun parent, because I was away from home so often. It wasn't ideal, but I also didn't have the heart to discipline my children. Until it was past the point of any good. That was why Cam and Charlie resented me by the time they were teenagers."

Serena nodded a little as she splayed her hand out on Bernie's torso, letting her thumb rub back and forth a little as she sighed. "When Ellie was six, we went on holiday to New York City. Edward had a conference there, and I thought it would be a good experience for her. We saw _Phantom_ , of course, because she wanted to see a musical, and _Cats_ had closed by that time. That wasn't the thing that I loved the most though."

"And what would that be?" Bernie whispered before she let out a deep yawn.

"Going to the Cloisters. I was able to see the tapestries there, and oh." She broke off, her thoughts going back to the way she had felt when she had first seen that unicorn trapped in a tiny corral. "I understood that look on the unicorn's face. Ellie didn't, so we went out to the gardens, where she was happy. I want to get back there eventually, and see if things have changed for me."

"I rather think that things have, you're in a different place in your life now."

"That I am," Serena murmured as she smiled. "Maybe we could go there next year."

"Yes."

She let out a tiny sigh of pleasure as she let her eyes close heavily. "I'm sorry. I want to stay up and watch the night sky with you, but I am exhausted from our trek out here. Do you mind?"

"Not at all." Bernie dropped another kiss to her head before letting her chin rest atop her head. "And just think, the birds will sing us awake at the first hint of light."

Serena tried not to groan as she nodded, having not thought about that. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, and she turned her gaze back up to the night sky as she let the gentle sound of the wind slip over her, hoping that she would be just as warm in the morning as she was right now, in Bernie's arms.


End file.
